If you have any interest in Companion, you should avoid its most recent trailer like the plague. The film came into the cultural consciousness with a brilliant first teaser, but the follow-up ruined its mystique. Advertising a movie without giving the game away is often difficult, especially when the creators rarely control the marketing. Companion is a great example of how easily a few questionable cuts can mess up an intriguing date.
Companion stars Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher, with Drew Hancock writing and directing. Fans may recall Hancock as the writer of two of the three Fred movies, but his recent series My Dead Ex may be slightly more representative. Hancock’s name isn’t the selling point, as Barbarian director Zach Cregger stepped in to produce. They seem hopeful the project could elevate Hancock as Barbarian did for Cregger.
Try Not To Find Out What Companion Is About
That video is the first teaser for Companion, which came out around three months before the full trailer. It’s excellent, effectively leaving the audience with a million unanswered questions while establishing a stellar tone. We learn what we need to learn from that teaser, but that includes very little about the plot. The full trailer completely ruins the mystique, seemingly teasing an entirely different film. You will want to go into Companion with little more than a pit in your stomach and a head full of questions. I felt my interest in this film dwindle sharply when I saw the full trailer. Suddenly, all of that intrigue and confidence from the teaser felt hollow. I won’t spoil the frustrating big reveal, but the issue has nothing to do with the actual premise. The Companion trailer robbed the audience of a rare treat in modern cinema.
Surprises are hard to come by in the modern horror landscape. So many films take so much inspiration from their predecessors that they fail to deliver anything new. Companion had the opportunity to truly shock a crowd, but the producers gave it up. Why would they do that? The obvious answer is that they thought the moody, atmospheric teaser wouldn’t drive enough ticket sales. The trailer is cut for sizzle, using a lot more snarky humor and an edgy voiceover to change the tone. Alternatively, the team thought the Companion trailer needed to soften a potential future blow. Maybe they thought the big reveal wasn’t worth hiding, leading them to drop it early. Whatever the reason, it shows either cowardice or creative weakness in the finished product.
Companion could still turn out to be a great film, but it will have to accomplish that in spite of its marketing. Let the original teaser stand as a bold statement that can define horror previews for the future. When someone does the hard work of making a film appealing by introducing a mystery, learning the truth often feels like a bad gift in a pretty box. If you still want to see Companion, skip the trailer, and try to go into this date blind.
